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At Eternity’s Gate Movie Review

admin — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 16:22:41 +0000

The statement that “great art comes out of great pain” has never been more clearly illustrated than with Julian Schnabel’s examination of the life of Vincent van Gogh, At Eternity’s Gate. Willem Dafoe’s performance as van Gogh is exemplary. Defoe has reached a point in his life and career that perfectly matches the role’s requirements. His now craggy face shows the necessary lines of experience and he has also become very adapt at conveying emotion with just a look.

Set during the final years of van Gogh’s life, when he resided in the South of France, it highlights his increasingly deteriorated grasp of his own sanity. Never famous or rich during his lifetime, he leads a hand to mouth existence via the financial and moral support of his brother Theo (Rupert Friend) and Theo’s wife Johanna (Amira Casar).

He is befriended by fellow artist Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac) and in his weakened mental state becomes overly dependant on him. As he draws further into himself and his art, he becomes perceived by the town’s peoples as a threat and soon becomes institutionalised. Throughout these times, the only real peace he finds is when he is painting, which he does in an ever accelerated pace and intensity.

The film’s impressionist look matches the artist’s output but at times draws a bit too much attention to itself but it’s a small quibble. The emotion impact is the film’s biggest take away. It’s very effecting while not always being that easy to watch. It’s art that is not always pleasant to view but leaves a lasting impression.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/transmissionfilms

Watch the trailer for Academy Award Nominated film At Eternity’s Gate

admin — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 16:49:31 +0000

Julian Schnabel’s ravishingly tactile and luminous new film takes a fresh look at the last days of Vincent van Gogh, and in the process revivifies our sense of the artist as a living, feeling human being.

Schnabel; his co-writers Jean-Claude Carrière and Louise Kugelberg, also the film’s editor; and cinematographer Benoît Delhomme strip everything down to essentials, fusing the sensual, the emotional, and the spiritual.

And the pulsing heart of At Eternity’s Gate is Willem Dafoe’s shattering performance: his Vincent is at once lucid, mad, brilliant, helpless, defeated, and, finally, triumphant. With Oscar Isaac as Gauguin, Rupert Friend as Theo, Mathieu Amalric as Dr. Gachet, Emmanuelle Seigner as Madame Ginoux, and Mads Mikkelsen as The Priest.

At Eternity’s Gate is in Australian Cinemas February 14!
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BIFF Movie Review – Loving Vincent

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 04:21:21 +0000

Seven years in the making, Loving Vincent is as unique a film as one is likely to see at this year’s BIFF.

It follows the last few days and mysterious death of the artist Vincent Van Gogh and is told in an almost police procedural manner. Where the film really soars though is in its visual presentation. Over 100 artists have created a hand painted animated look done in the appropriate impressionistic style and it makes every frame a visual work of art.

As the story evolves, there are a multitude of descriptions of the Dutch painter’s last few days and it is left up to the audience to make their own mind up as to the validity of the deferent scenarios. The look is sumptuous and the story involving.

It will be shown a few more times during the festival and should not be missed.
Rob Hudson

Brisbane International Film Festival Loving Vincent screenings:
PALACE CENTRO
Thursday, August 24 – 10:30 am

PALACE BARRACKS
Sunday, August 20 – 1:30 pm
Thursday, August 31 – 10:30 am
Sunday, September 3 – 5:45 pm
www.biff.net.au